GB Plus Me Part 1: One of the Boys
by IAmTheRedLady
Summary: Jennifer joins her college professors' new business and has the adventure of a lifetime. Newly edited! Something weird happened to the top of the picture, sorry.
1. Meet the Force

**One of the Boys**

The dark-haired, balding man patted my hand fondly and looked back at the door, through which Eric had just stomped out of angrily. "You may as well get used to that. It's the kind of resentment that your ability is going to provoke in some people," said my professor.

I was confused. It seemed to me that Eric had left because Dr. Venkman had kept electrocuting him, not out of jealousy. "Do you think I have it, Dr. Venkman?"

_It_ was referring to extra sensory perception. I had come to Columbia to study psychology, and had ended up minoring in parapsychology. So, here I was, submitting myself to the Zener test for the stipend of five bucks, at the hand of this wacko-Dr. Peter Venkman.

The professor looked into my eyes deeply and earnestly. "You're no fluke, Jennifer."

I took my hand out of his. Dr. Venkman was a nice guy-no, I take that back; he was kind of a creep-but he was getting just a little too close.

Suddenly, the door flew open again. I half-expected it to be Eric, demanding his five bucks, but instead it was a cheerful-looking, sort of roly-poly guy, about the same age as Dr. Venkman. I recognized him as Dr. Stantz, another professor of parapsychology. "This is it!" he exclaimed excitedly. "This is definitely it!"

He started bustling around the small storeroom. "Did those UV lenses for the video camera come in yet? And that blank tape, I need it, the one we erased yesterday." He began pawing through some boxes and gathering random equipment.

Dr. Venkman turned back to me, smiling. "Will you excuse me for a second?"

I nodded and my professor got up and walked over to the other man. "I'm right in the middle of something, Ray!" he said, slapping Dr. Stantz upside the head. He smiled quickly at me then turned back to his partner. "Uh, I need more time with this subject. Could you come back in an hour, hour and a half?"

"Peter," said Stantz. "At one-forty PM, at the main branch of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, ten people witnessed a _free-floating, full torso, vaporous apparition_! It blew books off shelves from twenty feet away and scared the socks of some poor librarian!" His voice barely contained his excitement.

"I'm very excited, I'm very pleased," said Venkman. The dull in his voice drastically contrasted Stantz's enthusiasm. "I want you to get right down there, check it out, and get back to me."

Stantz shook his head. "No, no, Peter, you're coming with us on this one. Spengler went down there. He took PKE valences, went right off the top of the scale;_ buried the needle_. We're close on this one, I can feel it!"

He walked out of the room, leaving Venkman to mutter to himself. Then, he sighed and walked back over to me. "I have to go now, Jennifer. But I'd like to work with you some more. Perhaps you could come back this evening, say at…" his voice trailed off.

"Eight o'clock?" I suggested.

Venkman's jaw dropped in astonishment. "I was just going to say 'eight o'clock.' You are a legitimate phenomenon!"

I blushed, not quite sure how to take that.

* * *

><p>"That guy is a total cougar," said Alex, my best friend, as I recapped my afternoon for him. Alex is really handsome, with his almost jet-black hair and his dark green eyes. I've kinda got a little crush on him.<p>

"Oh, come on. I just think that's an act. Like he can't help being a flirt, you know?" I said.

He shook his head. "I don't know, Jen. The guy sounds like a sexual predator waiting to happen."

I laughed. "You're paranoid. Why are you so protective of me?"

"Cause you're so innocent and naïve. Guys like this Venkman like to take advantage of that."

"Alex, I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. And besides, I bet he's a really nice guy underneath." I retorted.

Alex shook his head. "So what was up with his friend?"

I chuckled. "Dr. Stantz? He's just like that. He really loves his job."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Nobody likes their job, Jennifer. Work is work."

"I thought you liked being assistant curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," I said.

He shrugged. "That's not a job, that's a position."

I rolled my eyes. "Cause there's a big difference. Look, I gotta go. I have pick up some groceries and meet Dr. Venkman at the university."

"I can't believe you actually believe in that ESPN crap," said Alex.

"It's ESP."

"Well, whatever it is, it's still bull."

I pretended I hadn't heard that as I got up and put on my coat. "You know, Dr. Venkman really believes I could be psychic."

"That's just a line. I wouldn't take anything this guy says without a grain of salt. Just be careful, okay?"

I smiled. I knew Alex was worried about me, and it touched me. He isn't really a negative guy like he seems, he's just skeptical. He's really sweet once you get to know him.

After the tests Dr. Venkman had run on me that day, I was feeling a little giddy. What if I really was psychic? I wondered what my parents would've said about my participation in them if they had known. My mother probably wouldn't have been pleased. I remember all too well what she had said when I had told where I planned to go to college and what I was studying. She thought I was just being ridiculous. All she had ever expected from me was an honorable son-in-law and some grandkids. My father hadn't cared. He was too busy running his business.

My older brother Theodore would've supported me. Growing up, he was the only one who ever understood me. He felt the same way I did about our parent, that Mom was a social-climbing snob and my dad was an uncaring corporate jerk. After high school, he joined the military and died in combat. I was alone.

The military had been Theo's means of escape from our parents. College was mine.

I left for the university around 7:30. I walked inside the parapsychology building, Weaver Hall, and stepped up the receptionist. "Hello? I'm here to see Dr. Peter Venkman."

The receptionist didn't even look up. "He's not here."

"Oh. Do you know where he is?" I asked confusedly. He had said eight, right? Maybe he had meant eight in the morning?

"He's been fired. The whole teaching board was replaced," said the receptionist, obviously bored.

"What? Why?" I was shocked.

She looked up at me. "Do I look like Dean Yeager?"

Why are receptionists always rude? I bit my tongue and asked politely, "Well, do you know where I might him?"

She rolled her eyes. "He left this forwarding address for some old firehouse." She handed me a slip of paper with the address on. The receptionist turned backed to her typing. I took this as her way of saying, "Now leave me the hell alone."

I walked outside and read the address. "Hook and Ladder Number 8, corner of North Moore and Varick."

* * *

><p>The receptionist hadn't been kidding. The firehouse was indeed old. Hell, it was a shack. What would Dr. Venkman be doing here?<p>

I opened the door and stuck my head inside. The inside was just how you'd expect it to be: dusty and filled with junk. This place was a wreck. I let myself in. "Hello?" I called out. "Anybody here?"

I heard voices coming from upstairs. "Oh boy! A customer already!" an excited voice shouted.

"I highly doubt it's a customer, Raymond." This unfamiliar voice was much deep and placid, with sort of a nasal drawl. Then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Oh, Jennifer, I didn't expect to see you," said Dr. Venkman as he came down. "How did you know where to find us?"

"They gave me an address at the university…what are you doing here, exactly?" I asked. Then suddenly, Dr. Stantz came sliding down the pole.

"Who is it, Pete?" he exclaimed excitedly. Then he saw me and said, "Oh, hi. I'm Raymond Stantz."

I nodded. "I know. I'm one of your students, Dr. Stantz."

"More like you were," he sighed. "Well, what brings you down here, Miss…"

"I'm Jennifer Colby." I stuck out my hand. Stantz shook it warmly. "I came because Dr. Venkman was running some tests on me…what is this place, anyway?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"It's an old firehouse," said that unfamiliar voice, which was now coming down the stairs. I turned and saw that the voice belonged a third tall man, with brown hair that stood up on end, a big nose, and glasses. You know the type. He was kind of cute, in a nerdy sort of way. If I was correct, it was Dr. Spengler, the third of the ex-parapsychology professors.

"Well, I knew that. I meant what are you all doing here?" I asked.

"Ray and Egon want to open a 'ghost extermination' business here," said Venkman, rolling his eyes.

I was confused. I looked back at Dr. Stantz. "You want to hunt ghosts? Is that even possible?"

He nodded. "Sure. It's very simple, really. You just have to…" He struggled to find the right words. "Well, I guess it's not all that simple after all," he laughed.

"We're going to catch the ghosts and contain them," said Dr. Spengler. "It's complicated to explain."

"Oh…" My voice trailed off. "Well, what are you going to call this business of yours?"

"We haven't come up with a name yet," said Stantz.

"I wanted to call it 'Ecto-Eliminators, Incorporated'," said Spengler.

Dr. Venkman shook his head. "No, no, no. We need a cool name like 'Phantom Cops' or something."

"I was thinking of 'Ghostsmashers'," added Stantz.

"Hmm," I thought. "I think you're on the right track, but something's not quite right...what about Ghost_busters_?"

The scientists were quiet for a moment. "Well, I love it," said Venkman.

Stantz nodded. "Me too."

"That could definitely work," agreed Spengler.

I smiled, pleased that the guys had like my idea. "Could you maybe use some help?"

The guys looked at each other, then back at me. "Well, okay," said Dr. Stantz. "But on one condition."

"Um…okay," I said, a little apprehensively.

Stantz smiled. "If you'll call us by our first names. None of that stuffy professor crap."

I grinned too. "Alright…Ray. It's a deal."

And that is how I came to meet the three best friends I'd ever have and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.


	2. Settling In

I laid down my paintbrush and studied the wall Ray and I had just finished painting. "Looks good from where I'm standing," I called over to him.

The guys and I had been working for the past couple of weeks on fixing up the old firehouse. It was really starting to shape up. Not only that, but I felt as though they were really starting to accept me. Peter, of course, was friendly as ever; Ray, even more so. I found him to be a very cheerful guy, easy to get along and quick to laugh at really bad jokes, my specialty.

Dr. Spengler, on the other hand, was standoffish; not unfriendly, just shy, I guess. I was having trouble calling him Egon. I guess I still thought of him as my professor. With Ray and Peter, familiarity had come naturally. Spengler, however, wasn't exactly the kind of guy you could make conversation with easily. I wished I could find some way to pull him out of his shell.

Ray nodded and put down his roller too. "Let's take a break."

He walked over to the ice chest and pulled out a couple of Cokes. He handed me one.

"Thanks," I said. I opened it and took a swig. Then I stared at it, dismayed.

"What's wrong?" asked Ray, noticing my expression.

"It's nothing. I just miss Dr Pepper, that's all," I said with a wistful smile.

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Where are you from?"

"Texas," I said sheepishly.

"Huh," he said. "What's it like down there? I've never been further from New York than Milwaukee."

I chuckled. "Well, it's a hell of a lot different than the Big Apple, I'll tell you that. Where I lived, you didn't even get snow in the winter and the summers climbed over 100 degrees."

"You know, I didn't have you marked for a Texan," mused Ray.

"That's because I'm a New Yorker at heart. Why do you think I came here to study?"

"Good point," agreed Ray. He sipped his Coke. "Speaking of which, what got you into parapsychology?"

I shrugged, not really wanting to go into my dysfuntional family history. "The paranormal seemed pretty intriguing, so I took parapsychology as my minor. I'm really glad I did now. But, truthfully, I want to major in voice."

"You sing?" asked Ray surprisedly.

I nodded. "A little. And I play guitar too. But I didn't want to waste a college education on something I knew would never go anywhere. Then I read about parapsychology. It seemed interesting, so I went for it."

Ray seemed to ponder over that for awhile. "Jennifer, do you really believe in the paranormal?"

"Well, I believe in ESP abilities, like telepathy and psychokinesis," I said slowly. "But I'm not sure I believe in ghosts. I guess I'll have to see one to believe in them."

He nodded. "That's understandable."

"What about you?" I asked. "How did you become a scientist?"

"Now that's a long story," he smiled. "I guess I'm just curious about the way the world works."

I nodded, then my mind moved to a different subject. "So this ghost catching thing…you really think it will work?"

"Definitely. This containment unit Spengler and I've designed can't fail…unless…" Ray's voice faltered.

"Unless what?" I asked.

"Unless someone was to shut it down. Cut off the power. But what idiot would do that?" He chuckled to himself.

"What would happen if someone shut off the unit?" I asked worriedly.

"Oh, not much," said Ray. "Just all the ghosts we'd captured escaping back into the city, a possible cross rip…"

"Yikes," I said with a shudder. Cross rips, or disruptions in the space-time continuum, are not good news. I hadn't learned all that much about them in my studies, but I knew enough. If one were to occur…well, Casper would be the least of our worries.

"Don't worry. That'll never happen," Ray assured me.

I nodded. "You're right."

Suddenly, Peter came in. "What's going on in here, kids?"

I raised an eyebrow at that one, but shrugged it off. I'm use to people babying me.

"Just finishing this room, Pete," Ray replied. "Did you know Jennifer here is from Texas?"

Peter turned to me. "Of course I did, Raymond. She's got that Southern charm." He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes and said in a cheesy Podunk drawl, "I thank ya kindly, suh."

Peter snickered. Ray, on the other hand, just about choked on his Coke laughing at that one. "Ray! You okay?" I said, patting him on the back.

He nodded and coughed a little. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Peter scrutinized the fruits of our labor. "It's looking good, guys."

"Yeah. Thanks for all the help, Venkman," I said facetiously.

"Hey, I am helping. It's called supervising," he said with a smirk.

"You napping on the couch while we're working our asses off doesn't count as supervising," I retorted.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, how about we settle up by me treating everyone to a nice calzone?"

Peter's really the only one who likes calzones, but hey, I never turn down free food. "Okay, Pete. Calzones on you sounds good to me."

* * *

><p>"So," said Peter between bites, "what's our next move?" We were all sitting around the table upstairs in the kitchen.<p>

Dr. Spengler pushed his glasses up his nose. "I've called the employment agency and requested a secretary."

"Great!" said Peter. "Is she cute?"

"Oh please," I mumbled.

Spengler shrugged. "I don't know. She's supposed to show up pretty soon for an interview."

"I volunteer to do the interviewing," offered Peter with a grin.

Suddenly we heard a high nasal voice with a distinct Brooklyn accent call from downstairs, "Hello? Anyone here?"

Peter winced at the voice. "On second thought, someone else can do it."

"Geez, who are hiring? Nanny Fine?" said Ray.

I got up and looked down the stairs at our new secretary. "We'll be right with you!" I called and turned back to the guys. "It's definitely not Fran Drescher, Raymond."

The secretary was anything but Fran Fine. She was petite, with shortly clipped red hair and large spectacles. The four of us headed downstairs.

"Are you the woman from the employment office?" I asked the woman.

She nodded and shook my hand. "Janine Melnitz."

"I'm Jennifer Colby; this is Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz, and Dr. Spengler," I introduced. She glanced at each of them in turn, her eyes lingering on Spengler, I noted.

"So, what are your qualifications?" I asked, trying to sound professional. Truthfully, I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for. What made a good secretary?

She handed me a copy of her resume. "I can take calls and messages, and I type 48 words a minute," she informed.

"Ah," I said, trying to sound indifferent. I didn't know if I was supposed to be impressed or not. Forty eight, that's almost a word a second, right? Sounded good to me. I can only type about twenty. I looked down at the resume, pretending to read the resources. "Yes, everything seems to be in order, Ms. Melnitz."

"What are my hours?" she asked.

I looked at the guys. _What am I supposed to say?_

Peter nodded and stepped up. "Listen, I'll take the interview from here. You three go on and work on that project." He winked.

"Alright. C'mon guys," I said as I pushed Ray and Spengler upstairs before one of them could say "What project?"

_Peter_, I thought, _I owe you one_.

* * *

><p>It was dark, but my eyes were stinging, as if a high-wattage light was being shone in them. The air smelled of burnt sugar and fried hair. I was cold, but sweating.<p>

The worst was the noise. The wind roared in my ears, but at the same time, it was someone rasping in a strange language that mysteriously, I understood: It is coming. It will destroy. It is coming. It will destroy.

"What?" I screamed over the gale, but I was drowned out. "What's coming?"

The wind suddenly ceased. It was replaced by an even more resonant bellowing. I had to hold my ears.

The raspy voice cackled over the cacophony. It has come!

"Jennifer! Wake up!"

I sat bolt right up, blinking the sleep from my eyes. My roommate Abby had shaken me awake. "Jennifer, are you okay?"

"Just a dream," I whispered to myself with relief. "It was just a dream."

"You were screaming your head off," said Abby fretfully. "That must have been some nightmare. Are you sure you're okay?"

I shook my head; no, I was not sure. Not sure at all.


	3. On the Job

I yawned. Ray looked at me concernedly. "You alright?"

I nodded. "Just tired. I haven't been sleeping much lately."

"Melatonin," suggested Ray. "Works wonders."

"Melatonin. Right." As if I wanted to go to sleep.

Yes, the dreams were still coming. Abby had more or less moved out. "Visiting my sick sister," had been her excuse. More likely she wanted to sleep without a psycho yelling their head off in the middle of the night.

So I'd been avoiding sleep like the plague, gulping down coffee (which I've never liked) and energy drinks (which I've _really_ never liked) like caffeine was going out of style. But I did have to sleep sometimes, which I abhorred.

I was really pooped today because my day had been full of classes, one of which I had had a major exam in. Major as in "forty percent of my grade." And I was pretty sure I had bombed it. Late studying, despite what you may have heard, does not pay off.

I took a gulp of soda, hoping the sugar would rev me up a little. Then I attacked the moo shoo pork. Eating was something I hadn't been doing much lately either.

Peter raised his Mountain Dew. "To our first customer."

"To our first and only customer," added Ray.

I nearly choked on a wonton. "We had a customer?"

"Yeah, while you were at school," said Ray. "Her name's Dana Barrett."

"Ugh! Stupid education!" I grumbled.

"Apparently, there's a spook in her fridge," Peter told me.

"What happened?" I asked, hungry for details…and egg roll. I grabbed one and bit into it. 'Well, come on!"

"She told us that while she was putting away her groceries, some eggs fried themselves and then she found a dog in her fridge," said Pete with a shrug, like it was no big deal.

"A talking dog. It said 'Zool' or something," Ray chided in.

I sat up straight. "You mean 'Zuul,' right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Ray asked.

It just so happened that the big test I had had today had been in my History class, on the Middle East. In cramming, I remembered vaguely reading something about a Zuul, a Sumerian demigod or something. But I'd been so tired. I couldn't really remember.

"Never mind." I slumped back in my chair.

"Anyway, I need to draw some petty cash so I can take her out. We don't want to lose her," said Peter.

"Oh lord," I muttered. "Peter's on the prowl."

Peter gave me a Look, then turned back to Ray. "So how about it?"

"Ah, this magnificent feast," said Ray, gesturing to the takeout, "represents the last of the petty cash."

I groaned. "What are we gonna do?"

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure business will pick up soon," said Ray confidently.

All of a sudden, Janine yelled from downstairs, "WE GOT ONE!"

And the alarm sounded.

Me and the guys just sat there staring at each other astounded. "Admit it," I said to Ray. "You planned that."

Ray jumped up from the table. "It's a call!"

We leaped into action. We all raced over to the poles and slid down. Then we opened our lockers. Mine had **J. Colby** emblazoned on the door.

I stuffed myself hurriedly into the khaki jumpsuit and laced my boots. "Does this make me look fat?" I asked Spengler jokingly.

He looked at me and shook his head.

"Thanks, pal," I said. Then I hopped into the car, which Ray had made look terrific, all cool and retro looking. Now we were about to see if it ran.

Peter and Spengler were in the back. Ray climbed into the front seat next to me. He put in the key and ignited the engine. "Purrs like a kitten, Raymond!" I cheered.

Ray grinned, pleased with himself. He hit the siren button and punched the gas.

* * *

><p>Ecto-1, as Ray had dubbed our car, pulled up in front of the Sedgewick. I whistled. "I shudder to think what manner of yuppies is nesting in this place."<p>

We climbed out of the car. I noted that people were staring at us. "You'd think they never seen a bunch of Ghostbusters before," I muttered. Ray grinned.

Peter and Egon were pulling the "proton packs" out of the back. Ray had explained to me that they basically shot out lasers that grabbed the ghosts and kept ahold of them. But they were supposed to be incredibly dangerous. From what I had learned about nuclear fission, I could imagine they were.

"Jesus, Egon, you couldn't have made these a little lighter, eh?" whined Pete.

I snorted. "Oh, come on, Peter. They can't be that hea-oomph!" I grunted as Peter deposited one into my arms. "Holy crap! This is gotta be fifty pounds!"

"Sixty," corrected Egon.

"Yeah, that makes it feels lighter," I grumbled. I pulled on the proton pack like a backpack. It was definitely easier to handle that way, but it didn't make it any less heavy. "C'mon, guys. Let's go nab some freaking ghosts."

As we headed for the door, Ray said to all of us, "Guys, let's try be inconspicuous, okay? We're attracting enough attention as it is."

We all nodded and went inside.

"Hey, anybody seen a ghost?" called Peter as we walked inside the hotel. Of course, every head turned our way.

"Way to be inconspicuous, Peter," I grumbled, as a little man in a suit came running up to us. "Thank you for coming so quickly," he said. "The guests are starting to ask questions and I'm running out of excuses."

"Has it happened before?" asked Ray, all business.

"Well, most of the original staff knows about the twelfth floor. The disturbances, I mean," said the man, whom I assumed was the hotel manager. "But it's been quiet for years, up until two weeks ago. It was never, ever this bad though."

"Did you ever report it to anyone?" inquired Egon.

"Oh, heavens, no! The owners don't even like us to talk about it. I hope we can take care of this quietly," said the manager.

Ray nodded. "Yes sir. Don't worry. We handle this kind of thing all the time."

I raised my eyebrows at Ray. He shook his head slightly. _Just go along with it._

We started making our way towards the elevator, but Egon stopped us and said, "I think Jennifer should stay down here. The ghost might come and we need someone on the lookout."

_Oh, great. I have to miss all the action_, I thought. But I didn't argue. I just nodded and said, "Alright." I waved goodbye as the guys went on up to the twelfth floor.

* * *

><p>I sighed. I'd been waiting around in the lobby for at least ten minutes now, and nothing had happened. "I bet they already caught the darn thing…if there really is a thing to catch," I grumbled to myself.<p>

Suddenly, my walkie-talkie squawked. _Come in, Ray,_ Peter's voice said calmly.

_Venkman! I saw it, I saw it, I saw it!_ Ray exclaimed excitedly into the phone.

_It's right here, Ray. It's looking at me,_ said Peter.

_It's an ugly little spud, isn't it?_ said Ray.

_I think it can hear you, Ray._

I grabbed my phone. "What?" I said, dying for information. "What's 'it'?"

The guys didn't answer. _Don't move,_ whispered Ray. _It won't hurt-_

Ray got cut off as Peter started screaming into the phone. "What's going on up there, guys?" I asked frustratedly.

_Venkman! Venkman!_ exclaimed Ray. Then, nothing.

"Ugh!" I huffed.

About two minutes later, Egon's voice came in. _Ray, Ray! Come in, please!_

_Spengler! I'm with Venkman! He got slimed!_

_I feel so funky_, I heard Peter say in the background.

_That's great Ray. Save for slime for me,_ said Egon.

"That's disgusting," I muttered to myself.

"Eek!" I heard a scream from down the hall. I looked. "Oh my god."

It's wasn't some little kid in a sheet like you see on Halloween. It looked something you'd find in a used tissue: a big green chunk of slime, except with a face.

The…whatever it was, floated past me. I watched it pass through the door of a big fancy ballroom. I grabbed my phone. "Guys! You'd better get down here quick! It just went into a ballroom!"

_Okay, we'll be right there!_ Ray replied.


	4. Bust that Sucker!

The guys stepped off the elevator. Ray hadn't been kidding, Peter had gotten slimed big time. "Geez, Venkman. You go swimming in that stuff?" I snickered.

He glared at me. "Not today, kid."

"Where's the entity?" asked Egon.

"Over here." I directed them over to the double doors to the ballroom, where the manager was waiting.

"Alright sir, if you and your staff could please wait out here, we'll take care of everything," said Ray. We walked inside. Ray shut the doors behind us and locked them.

We poked our heads through the curtains cautiously, looking for the ghost. "Up there! On the ceiling!" whispered Ray, pointing towards the chandelier.

We all looked up. I shuddered. "Yup. That's it alright."

"That's the one that got me," said Peter.

Egon studied the ghost. "Fascinating."

We walked in and pulled out the neutrona wands on our proton packs. "Alright, guys…ready?" asked Ray. "Throw it!"

We flicked the switches on our wands and took aim. The ends exploded with orange lasers, which fired toward the ghost. The ghost dove out of the way and we ended up hitting the chandelier instead. Oops.

The chandelier came crashing to the ground, right on top of an elegant placed table. "I did that! I did that, that's my fault!" confessed Ray.

"It's okay. The table broke the fall," said Peter.

"There's something very important I forgot to tell you," said Egon urgently.

"What?" I asked apprehensively.

"Don't cross the streams," said Egon.

"Why?" asked Peter.

"It…would be bad," said Egon.

"I'm fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing," said Peter. "What do you mean by bad, exactly?"

"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light," explained Egon.

"Total protonic reversal!" Ray and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah, that's bad," agreed Peter. "Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon. Alright, Ray, take the left. Egon, take the right."

"What about me? I asked.

"You just stay back in case we need you," said Peter.

"So…I'm basically left field," I huffed. "Fine."

We took our places. The ghost was over by the buffet table, chugging down wine. "Okay, Ray, give me a stream from the outside…now!" directed Peter.

Ray fired. The ghost quickly flitted over to the bar. "Egon!"

Egon fired his wand too. A bunch of bottles exploded, but the ghost bounced away. "Alright, shut it off!" called Peter.

Egon apparently didn't hear. "Egon! You can turn it off now!" yelled Ray.

"Egon!" I screeched. Egon finally realized we were calling him and quit firing.

"Nice shooting, Tex!" joked Peter. Egon blushed.

"Jennifer! Watch out!" cried Ray. I looked up and realized the ghost was coming right at me.

I shrieked and fired. The stream reached out and…grabbed him.

"You got him! You got him!" cheered Ray.

"I do?" I yelled over the roar of the pack. I accidentally let go, and the ghost escaped. "Oops! Sorry!" I called.

The ghost floated up toward the ceiling, looking dazed. "The last throw took something out of him, but he's gonna move," said Ray. "Give me some room to lay the trap down, I need some room!"

Peter, Egon, and I quickly picked up a table and tossed it out of the way. _Well, this room is trashed,_ I noted. _I hope these people have their insurance paid up._

"Wait, wait, wait!" yelled Peter as we reached for another. "I've always wanted to do this."

He grabbed the tablecloth and pulled. The tablecloth slid off the table, making the dishes either slide off the table or just fall down. The centerpiece however, stayed in place. "And the flowers are still standing!" exclaimed Peter cockily.

"Jennifer! Toss me the trap!" called Ray.

I nodded and grabbed the tap, which we had left by the door. I threw it over to him carefully. Throwing has never been one of my strong suits.

Luckily, Ray managed to catch it. He set it down the ground and slid the trap part out into the clear, underneath the ghost. "On my signal, Spengler, I want a confinement stream for you, okay? Go!"

Egon fired. The stream shot out and grabbed the ghost. "Okay, hold him up there. He's gonna move. Hold him up!" called Ray. He pointed at Peter. "Go!"

Peter fire a stream too. The two streams clung to the ghost. He was stuck. "It's working, Ray," said Egon.

"Start bringing him down, start bringing him down! You got him! Don't cross the streams!" said Ray.

"Maybe now you'll never slime a guy with a positron collider, huh?" laughed Peter triumphantly at the ghost.

"You have issues, my friend," I said.

"Venkman, shorten your stream! I don't want my face burned off!" said Egon. Peter looked at his wand and did so.

"Okay, I'm opening the trap now! Don't look directly into it!" called Ray. His foot hit the pedal and the trap opened. I watched it out of the corner of my eye.

"I looked at the trap, Ray!" said Egon fretfully.

"Turn your streams off when I close the trap," directed Ray. "Get ready. I'm closing it… now!"

Peter and Egon quickly shut their wands and averted their eyes. I did too. The ghost got sucked in, and the trap shut itself.

We all looked up cautiously. Egon bent down and inspected it, then looked up at the rest of us. "It's in there," he said, a little in awe of ourselves.

Peter nudged it his foot. Ray beamed and put his hands on his hips. "Well, that wasn't such a chore, now was it?"

We stared at him, not quite sure that Ray was all there.

"We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" Peter exclaimed as we burst the double doors. A small crowd had gathered, wondering what was going on.

"Did you see it? What is it?" asked the manager.

"We got it!" exclaimed Ray giddily as he came out holding the steaming trap. "Sir, what you had there was what we refer to as a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm, or a Class 5 full-roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too," he added with a smirk.

"And now," said Peter. "Let's talk seriously. For the entrapment, we're gonna have to ask you four big ones, four thousand dollars."

I tried not to laugh as I watched Egon secretly show Peter the dollar amounts. _These guys are a bunch of cards._

"But we are having a special this week on proton charging," continued Peter. "And storage of the beast, and that's only going to come to one thousand."

The manager stood up straighter. "Five thousand dollars? I had no idea it would be so much. I won't pay it," he said as a smug smile appeared on his face.

"Fine," I retorted. "We can easily put right back." I nodded at Ray, who made to go back into the ballroom.

"No, no! All right! I'll pay," he grumbled. He whipped out a checkbook and scribbled out the price to us.

"Thank you," said Ray. "Hope we can help you again." He began to walk the crowd, shouting "Coming through! One Class 5 full-roaming vapor! Clear the way please!"

I shook hands with the manager and took the check. "Pleasure doing business with you." Then I whispered to Egon, "Let's get the hell out of here before he sees that ballroom."

He nodded and we headed for the door. Fast.


	5. Lies, Lies

The night after we caught the "slimer," as Peter had dubbed our first catch, I slept over at the firehouse. I had honestly been too tired to go home. I could barely walk up the stairs. Ray and Peter had had to help me. I still don't know how I'd managed to change out of my suit.

I've never slept well in strange places. Insomnia runs in my family, it always has. So I wasn't too surprised when I woke up around three am.

I put on my glasses and quietly went downstairs. Maybe some hot chocolate would help me sleep.

On the way to the kitchen, I passed Janine's desk. I smiled. She, like the rest of the firehouse, was fast asleep. Her head was laid on an appointment book, which I noted was filled with assignments for us. The Ghostbusters were literally overnight celebrities. We were going to have a lot of business waiting for us in the morning.

I walked past the door to the basement, and then I froze. Why was there a light shining from behind the door? Had someone left it on?

I opened the door and peeked inside. No, someone had not left the light on. Dr. Spengler was sitting at the table, messing with some gizmo, inspecting it or something.

"Bit late, isn't it?" I asked.

He jumped, then turned around. "Oh. Hello."

"Hi. Can't you sleep either?"

He cleared his throat. "No, it's not that. I just don't sleep much."

I raised an eyebrow. "How much do you sleep?"

"Fourteen minutes a day," he admitted.

My eyes widened. "That can't be healthy."

He shrugged. "It's enough."

"So, what are you doing down here?" I asked.

"I noticed that my PKE meter was acting overly sensitive at the hotel, so I was tying to reconfigure it…I didn't know you wore glasses."

I chuckled, amused that he had noticed. "I usually wear contacts. I exactly don't live up to the genius look, unlike some people…not that being smart is a bad thing," I added quickly. I didn't want to offend him.

Egon seemed to pick up on this. "Don't worry about it. I got called a nerd a lot in high school. And it's true."

"So what if it's true?" I scoffed. "Nerds are cool!" I paused. Something had been praying on my mind for awhile. "Listen. Can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"Back at the university, Peter was running tests on me. He told me I was psychic. Do you think I could be?"

Egon stared at me for a second. "Come with me," he finally said.

He got up and headed for the stairs. I followed. He led me into the kitchen, over to some device: a screen with wires coming out of that connected to two pads. "Have a seat," he instructed.

I sat down and Egon placed the two pads on the sides of my head. On the screen, an outline of my head appeared; the inside was rainbow-colored. "What is this thing?"

"It displays the conscious of a person. It should show us whether or not you're psychic," he replied.

He stared the Technicolor version of my head for a long time. "So, can you tell?" I asked anxiously.

Egon looked back at me with a grave look on his face. "I'm sorry."

My heart sank. I slowly took the pads off my head and got up. "Why did Peter lie to me?"

Egon looked like he was trying to come up with a gentle answer. But I already knew. Alex's voice came back to me: _Because you're so innocent and naïve. Guys like this Venkman like to take advantage of that._

Peter hadn't been interested in my psychic abilities. He'd been interested in…other things.

I was disgusted with him. But mostly, I was disgusted with myself for not recognizing a scoundrel when I saw one.

"Look," said Egon tentatively. "You shouldn't judge Peter too harshly. He's just…"

"A jackass?" I finished.

"Well, yes," agreed Egon. "But underneath, he's really not so bad. Peter's had sort of a rough life. His dad left his mother before Peter was born."

I crossed my arms. "That's too bad. But it doesn't excuse what he did."

Egon nodded. "I know. Just…try not to be too mad at him."

I placed a hand on Spengler's shoulder. "Alright. Thank you, Egon."

After I'd left the room, Egon looked back at the empty screen. "I could have sworn…" he murmured to himself, then shook his head.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I woke up with mixed feeling. I was angry with Peter for lying to me. I was upset that I wasn't psychic. I was satisfied that I had finally made conversation with Egon, and I was relieved that I had had a dreamless night. It was strange. At the firehouse, I didn't seem to experience any nightmares. Sleep, for the first time in forever, had been peaceful. Maybe I'd stay here from now on…<p>

I put on a blouse and a black skirt. I had a class today, and professors seem to like you better if you were nicely dressed.

As I walked down the stairs to grab some breakfast, Ecto-1 pulled into the garage. Ray and Peter climbed out of the car. "Honey, I'm home!" called Peter.

He put an arm around me cheerfully, but I shrugged it off. "Don't touch me, Venkman," I growled and stomped into the kitchen.

"Sheesh. What's her problem?" Peter said to Egon as he was coming out of the basement. "Not a morning chick, is she?"

"It's not the time of day, Peter, it's you," said Egon.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Maybe you could answer that if you'd take your head out of your pants," said Egon. He followed Ray into the basement.

Peter looked around. "What the hell is going on around here?"

He followed me into the kitchen. "Did I do something to upset you, kid?"

"You're the scientist, you figure it out," I growled.

"Just like a woman," snorted Peter. "Never giving you a straight answer."

I whirled around. "Did I even get one right at all?" I demanded.

"One what?" he asked.

"One of those damn flashcards." I gasped. "I bet you were just telling Eric he was wrong so you could shock him!"

Peter's cheeks reddened as realization came over him. At least he had the decency to feel guilty about what he did.

"I know," I said, "that the test you ran on me was a fake. How could you?"

"How did you know that?" he asked.

"I figured it out," I said, not wanting to incriminate Egon. "You lied to me!"

"I…I was just…" he struggled to find a plausible excuse, besides "I wanted to get inside your pants."

I huffed. "Look, I gotta go. I have class today." I stomped out.

* * *

><p>After class, I went to the library. I know I probably should have headed back to the firehouse; we were probably swamped with calls. But I really needed to study and after this morning, I didn't really want to be in the same room with Peter.<p>

I cracked open my History book. After that horrendous test yesterday, I probably needed to pull up my grade in that class.

I turned to page 479, the Middle East. I skimmed the page and my eyes hit the word "Zuul."

_Zuul. Didn't Ray something about that yesterday?_ I wondered to myself. I read the paragraph.

_In the eighth century, the demigod Zuul was highly worshipped by the Hittites, Mesopotamians, and the Sumerians. Zuul was the minion of Gozer, a powerful being brought about by Zuul and his co-minion, Vinz Clortho, to annihilate the world through his destructive form, Volguus Zildrohaar._

"Oh, shit."


	6. The New Guy

In the weeks that followed, the four of us were snowed under with work. When I wasn't in a class, I was busting ghosts. I was dog tired.

"Alright look," I said one night. I alone had had to go on three runs that day, and I knew that some of the guys had had to go on more. "This is getting ridiculous. We're swamped with work; we all need some sleep-why don't we hire some help?"

"I don't know," said Ray unsurely. "If we hire anyone, he'll be completely unused to our equipment."

"You hired me and I didn't know how to use the equipment," I said.

"Yes, but we had time to train you," Egon pointed out.

"Well, if we do meet someone who's crazy enough to work with us, I could take some time off and show him the ropes," I said. "I mean, I'm sort of indispensable anyway."

"That's not true," objected Ray. "You're really important."

I rolled my eyes. "You have to admit that you guys tend to not allow me to pull my own weight around here…not that I don't understand that you're trying to protect me, I do. But still, if we hired a fast enough learner, and you three could handle the work, I think it could be the best solution."

"She's right, fellas," Peter piped up. "We're working our asses off and there's still more ghosts to catch. We need help."

"Um…thanks, Venkman," I said, surprised a little at the support. I was still pretty mad at him about the whole psychic incident. "So, I'll go and put an ad in the paper, okay?"

Egon and Ray looked at each other, then back at me and nodded.

* * *

><p>A few days later, after a job down in Brooklyn (three Class Fives, ai yi yi!), Ray, Peter, and I stumbled out of the car, battle worn. "Ugh, I gotta get some sleep. I'm dying," groaned Ray.<p>

"You said it, brother," I yawned.

Peter scoped Ray out. "You don't look good."

"I don't?" asked Ray, lighting his cigarette.

"Well, you've looked better. You didn't used to look like this." Peter stepped over to Janine's desk, which I noticed for the first time, had a tall, sturdy-looking, black man sitting in front of it.

"Here's the paper on the Brooklyn. She paid with Visa," said Pete, handing Janine a piece of paper, documenting our job.

"Here's tonight's work feed," replied Janine, leaning away from the smoke of the trap and Ray's cigarette. She handed Ray a piece of paper, which he studied. "Oh, great. Two more free repeaters," he moaned.

"Not good. Not good at all," I said.

"And this," said Janine, gesturing to the mystery man, "is Winston Zeddemore. He's here about the job."

"Beautiful, you're hired," said Ray. "I'm Ray Stantz, this is Pete Venkman and Jennifer Colby."

I smiled and stuck out a hand. Winston shook it warmly. "Hello, glad to have you on the team," I said. "I'll be training you."

"Nice to meet you," he said in a deep voice.

"Can you help me, please?" Ray asked our new man.

Winston walked over to Ray, who handed him the loaded trap. "Welcome aboard," said Ray.

* * *

><p>The next day, I started training Winston Zeddemore. I showed him how to work the packs and the traps. "Rule number one," I said. "Never ever cross the streams."<p>

"Um…okay," said Winston, looking a little confused. "So, like this?" He fired at the target, hitting the bull's eye flawlessly.

"Great!" I exclaimed. "You're gonna be fine!"

"Thanks," said Winston. "You know, I used to have a job as a general contractor, but I got laid off."

"Why?" I asked, throwing the fried target-it was useless.

Winston shrugged. "I don't know. But I did notice that all the black guys got fired and not a single white one did. I'm not implying anything, I'm just saying."

I gasped. "But that's so unfair!"

"I know. But it's just that way things are sometimes. I've gotten used to it."

"You'll never be fired from here for that," I said firmly. "We accept each other around here, differences and all."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that," said Winston thoughtfully. "All you guys are nothing alike. How'd you all meet each other?"

"Peter, Ray, and Egon worked together at the university before they were fired. I was one of their students. I figured if they were going to catch ghosts, they'd need my help not to botch things up."

"So what are they like?" asked Winston.

"Well, as you might have noticed, Ray's the friendly type. He's a great pal," I explained. "Egon's sort of standoffish, but you can't take that personally. It was almost three weeks before he and I even spoke to each other. And Peter…" My voice trailed off.

"What?" Winston asked.

"He and I…aren't on the best of terms right now," I said quietly.

"You two get into a fight or something?"

"Yeah. Peter sort of did something dishonest and I'm having trouble forgiving him," I explained.

Winston thought for a second about that. "Look, I don't know what happened. But I think that you're a good person. And a good person would probably try to make amends with Peter, no matter what he did."

I nodded. "You're right. I really should. But I'm not sure how to right now."

"You seem smart," said Winston, patting me on the back. "You'll figure it out."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to a suggestion from a FanFiction colleague and friend, I decided to edit Part 1 a little. I added in this chapter to develop Winston's character a little more because they never did that in the movie. Plus, I never liked how they just had Winston magically know how to use the equipment. So...yeah.<strong>


	7. Disaster Rising

Winston settled into the group. He got along with the guys and was a great help on jobs. He was a hard worker and a good friend. We were glad to have him around.

A couple of days later, I had just come back from a bust, when a tall man in a suit angrily burst out of Venkman's office. He curtly rushed past me and marched out, slamming the door as he went.

"Who the hell was that?" I asked Peter, who was coming out of his office too. I'd been trying to be nicer to him lately since my conversation with Winston.

"Just some EPA asshole trying to see our storage unit," replied Peter.

"Why?"

Peter shrugged. "Who knows?"

I shrugged too and headed for the basement.

As I was coming down the stairs, I heard Egon say, "I'm worried, Ray. It's getting crowded in there and my recent data points to something big on the horizon."

"Getting crowded in where?" I asked. Egon, Ray, and Winston looked up.

"He's talking about the containment unit," Ray informed me.

"Oh."

"What do you mean 'big'?" Winston asked Egon.

"Well," said Egon, reaching for a Twinkie on the desk, "let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie…" He paused, calculating in his mind. "…thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds."

Ray started coughing on his cigarette. I gasped. "That's a big Twinkie," said Winston.

Egon nodded and bit into the Twinkie.

"We could be on the verge of a fourfold cross rip; a PKE surge of incredible, even dangerous, proportions," Ray fretted, as Peter came down the stairs.

"We just had a visit from the Environmental Protection Agency," Peter said. "Egon, how's the grid holding up?"

"Not good," replied Egon.

"Tell him about the Twinkie," said Winston.

"What about the Twinkie?" said Peter, dead serious.

I rolled my eyes and went back up the stairs. I seriously needed a Twinkie. Thank God Egon had a "secret" stash of them hidden away in the kitchen.

I turned on the radio. Casey Kasem's voice blasted out at me: _And in further news, still making headlines today, the Ghostbusters are at it again. This time, at the fashionable dance club The Rose. The boys in gray slugged it out with a pretty pesky poltergeist then stayed on to dance the night away. Now, on with the countdown._

I rolled my eyes. The whole "dancing the night away" thing had been, obviously, Peter's idea. We had had fun, though. "Why do they call us the boys in gray?" I wondered aloud. "We're obviously wearing brown…and I am not a boy!"

One of my favorite songs came on the radio. I started singing along. "He's the fireworks on the forth of July, he's the steepest hill on a roller coaster ride. Makes me wanna scream and shout and throw my hands in the air!"

I started dancing to the music. "He's a hundred foot drop to the river below, he's the feelin' you get when the water's ice cold. He says jump, I say how high, when and where?"

The tempo picked up. "He keeps me runnin' and gunnin' and goin' and comin' and knowin' that it's all right, uh huh. He's got me yearnin' and burnin' and tossin' and turnin' and yearning for him all night! This kind of lovin' leaves me breathless. And I never knew I could be so wild and reckless."

I was so into the music that I didn't notice that the guys were watching me from the doorway with their mouths hanging open.

"And I'm outta control like a runaway train with the wheels barely touching the rails. And I'm in a tornado, in a hurricane, got a tiger by the taaaaaaaaaaaaaail!"

I heard slowing clapping behind me. I whirled around and finally saw them watching me. "Oops."

Ray whistled. "When you said you could sing, you weren't kidding!"

"That was great!" exclaimed Winston.

"Not bad, kid," added Peter.

"Very nice," Egon said.

I blushed.

* * *

><p>As I drifted off to sleep that night, my mind filled with worries of the EPA, exploding containment units, and impending doom in general, I was taken back to that dark abyss of my nightmares.<p>

This time, the raspy voice was not alone. I heard the voices of my friends mixed in as well. _A PKE surge of incredible, even dangerous proportions…my recent data points to something big on the horizon…that's a big Twinkie…_

Then, the hoarse voice spoke. _The Traveler has come! _

I sat bolt upright, screaming.

The guys immediately woke up. "Hey, hey, what's goin' on?" groaned Pete groggily, rubbing his eyes.

Ray, Winston, and Egon rushed over to my bed. "Jennifer, what's wrong?" asked Ray anxiously. "Did you have a nightmare?"

I nodded, tears spilling out of my eyes.

"It's alright. It was just a dream," said Egon consolingly.

"I…I thought they would stop if I stayed here!" I sniffled. "Why won't they go away?"

"You've been having these nightmares for awhile?" Ray asked surprisedly.

I nodded. "Every night. But when I slept here, I didn't have them…until tonight. Why is this happening?" I wiped my eyes.

Suddenly, the alarm went off. "Come on. We got a job," Ray said.

"I'll come," volunteered Winston.

I nodded. "Me too. There's no way I'm going back to sleep!"

So Ray, Winston, and I rushed downstairs. "It's in Greenwich," said Janine blearily. She had been sleeping on the job again. "They said there were six at least."

"We better bring two traps then," said Ray.

"Greenwich. We'll be gone for awhile," Winston mused.

"Fine by me. Just as long as I don't have to go back to bed." I shuddered.

The three of us grabbed our stuff, pulled on our suits, and headed out.


	8. Locked Up

I fired my pack at the big ugly floating in front of me. The proton beam shot out and lassoed the ghost. "Yeehaw!"

The nightmare from this morning had been forgotten. Busting made me feel good.

"Alright, Winston! Get the trap!" called Ray.

Winston slid the trap over and opened it. My capture got sucked down into the trap with a loud swish. The trap snapped shut.

"Hell to the yeah!" I cheered.

"That's all of them, right?" Winston asked.

"I think so," I said.

Ray took out his PKE meter and scanned the room. "Yep, this place is clean."

"Yes!" Winston and I high-fived. Another job well done.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ray, Jennifer. Do you guys believe in God?" Winston asked us on the way back to the firehouse.<p>

"Never met him," said Ray.

"I do," I said from the backseat.

"Yeah, me too. And I love Jesus' style," said Winston with a grin.

I nodded. "Walked on water, healed the blind, couldn't be killed. He was a pretty cool guy."

Ray was enraptured with the layouts he had been studying. "This roof cap is made of a magnesium-tungsten alloy," he muttered to himself.

"What are you so involved with there?" Winston asked.

Ray folded up the papers. "These are the blueprints for the structural ironwork in Dana Barrett's apartment, and they're very, very strange." We had already filled our rookie in on Dana's strange case.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, in the architectural design, in material choice…everything," he replied.

"Hey, guys," Winston said. "Do you remember something in the Bible about 'the last days when the dead would rise from the grave'?"

"I remember Revelations 6:12," Ray said. He looked off into the distance. "'And I looked as he opened the sixth seal. And behold, there was a great earthquake; the sun became as sackcloth, and the moon became as blood.'"

"And the seas boiled, and the skies fell," Winston whispered softly.

"Judgment Day," I said with a shudder.

"Well, every ancient religion has its own myth about the end of the world," said Ray logically.

"Myth?" said Winston with a shaky laugh. "Ray, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately is because the dead _have_ been rising from the grave."

Ray looked at Winston then at me. "Uh, how about a little music?" he suggested.

"I second that," I replied.

Ray switched the radio on and we rode in silence for awhile.

_Dr. Stantz, come in please_, the walkie-talkie buzzed. It was Janine.

Ray picked up his phone. "Janine, what's up?"

_Egon wants you back at the firehouse as soon as possible. There's something here you need to see._

"You got it. We should be there pretty soon," Ray replied.

"Something we need to see? What did she mean by that?" I asked.

"I don't know. Winston, you better step on it."

* * *

><p>As we drove down 83rd, we noticed the streets were deserted. "Where is everyone?" I wondered aloud.<p>

Then we turned onto Varick and got our answer: they were all gathered in front of our firehouse.

"What the hell…" I gasped. There was smoke and crap coming from the doorway and the roof!

We pulled up and shoved our way through the crowd. "What happened?" yelled Ray at Egon, was standing with Peter and Janine towards the front of the building.

"Storage facility blew," Egon replied. He pointed towards a tall man in a suit standing with the police. "He shut off the protection grid."

"That's the EPA guy!" I shouted. "Pecker or whatever his name is."

"Oh, great," groaned Ray, running a hand through his hair.

"That's bad, isn't it?" asked Winston.

"Yeah," said Ray.

"Terminal," I added.

Peter looked around. "Hey, where's the Keymaster?"

Egon looked around too, for someone…or something. "Oh, shit!"

"Who's the Keymaster?" asked Ray confusedly.

"Yeah!" I said. "What's going on?"

"No time to explain. We gotta find him! Come on!" exclaimed Egon. He and Peter turned to run off, but they were blocked by Peck and the police.

"HOLD IT!" shrieked Peck. He pointed at Peter. "I want this man arrested! Captain, these people are in criminal violation of the Environmental Protection Act! And this explosion is the direct result of it!"

"Your mother!" roared Egon. He lunged at Peck.

Needless to say, we got arrested.

* * *

><p>"Ray, I'm scared," I whispered as they lead us to the holding cell.<p>

"Don't worry. We didn't do anything. They can't incriminate us for something we didn't do," he said. I detected the false note of hope in his voice and groaned.

Only a month ago, failing History had been my biggest worry. Now I had to think about spending time in the state pen!

Since I was a girl, I got looked up in the female's holding cell. Super.

"We didn't cause that explosion. You've gotta let us go!" I pleaded with the officer as he pushed me into the cell.

He snorted. "Tell it to the judge, missy." And with that flippant remark, he slammed the bars in my face.

I huffed frustratedly. Then I turned around to face my cellmates.

There were only two of them. One was short and leaning up against the bars, chewing gum. The other was sitting on the bunk, wearing a cheap-looking fake fur coat and super red, super thick lipstick. Prostitute.

"Whatcha in for?" asked the hooker.

"You wouldn't believe me," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Try me, sweetheart."

I sighed. "Okay. I'm a Ghostbuster."

"Oh." She nodded, as if she understood perfectly.

I groaned and sank down to the floor. I was in _jail_. How much lower could I sink?

Bubble Gum spoke up. "So, what do they think you did?"

I looked at her curiously. "How do you know I didn't do something?"

She chuckled. "Nobody in here did anything. If they did, they did it for a good reason. Take me for example. I beat my husband in the head."

I gasped. "Why?"

"Cause he put his filthy paws on me," she replied. "You think I deserve to be in here just because I defended myself?"

"I…I guess not," I said slowly.

"So…what do they think you did?" she asked again.

"Well, when we catch a ghost, we put them into this machine," I explained, trying not to sound like Egon. "But this idiot came along and turned it off and all the ghosts escaped. They say it was our fault."

Bubble Gum nodded. "That's bullshit."

"I don't know. Maybe they're right."

"Now, listen." Bubble Gum's voice became sharp. "The last thing you can do in here is start thinking you're guilty. You'll never get out of here if you start believing what those idiots say. You ain't guilty."

"You really think so?" I asked unsurely.

"I know so." Her voice was definite.

Suddenly a cop stepped up. "Yo, any Ghostbusters in here?"

I stood up. "That's me."

"You're getting released, sweetie." He opened the door.

"Good for you!" cheered the hooker.

"What did I tell you?" Bubble Gum smiled.

"Thank you," I said. "I owe you, Ms…I don't even know your name."

"I'm Trish. Trish Rosenbaum."

I smiled. "Thank you, Trish." I hugged her.

Then I joined my friends.


	9. To the Rescue

The cops stuffed us into police cars. The one they put me into already had Egon sitting in it. "Egon, what's going on? Where are they taking us?"

"City Hall," he answered. "Mayor Hines wants to see us."

I sighed. _Egon chooses now to give simple answers._ "But _why_ does he want to see us?"

"He wants us to fight a Sumerian god who is materializing on the roof of Dana Barrett's apartment building. His name is-"

"Wait, let me guess. It's Gozer," I said.

He looked at me confusedly. "Yes. How did you know?"

I shrugged. "History class."

"Oh. Well, the architect, Ivo Shandor, designed the building to bring about Gozer," continued Egon.

I gulped. I already knew this story. "And when he comes…we're all gonna die, aren't we?"

Egon gave me that same serious look he'd given me when he had told me I wasn't psychic. I sunk back in my seat, knowing we were screwed. "Oh, God."

* * *

><p>The police led us into the Mayor's office. "The Ghostbusters are here, Mr. Mayor," announced the doorman.<p>

"The Ghostbusters. Okay, the Ghostbusters," said Leonard Hines, as if he was mulling over the name. "Hey, where's this Peck?"

Peck stepped forward. "I am Walter Peck, sir, and I'm prepared to make a full report."

"I thought I smelled a rat," I growled. Egon put a hand on my shoulder, calming me down. Peck glared at me and continued. "These people are consummate snowball artists. They use sense and nerve gases to induce hallucinations. People think they're seeing ghosts. And they call these bozos who conveniently show up to deal with the problem with a fake electronic light show."

"Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here," said Ray.

"They caused an explosion!" Peck insisted.

The mayor looked at Peter. "Is this true?"

"Yes, it's true," Peter admitted solemnly. He nodded towards Peck. "This man has no dick."

Peck lunged at Peter. The police had to pull him off. "Well, that's what I heard!" exclaimed Peter defensively.

"Peter, would you _please_ behave?" I hissed.

The mayor looked over at the fire chief. "What am I gonna do here, John?" **(Yes, I took out the part with the priest.)**

"All I know is that was no light show we saw this morning," said the old firefighter. For a second, I wondered if he'd ever worked in our firehouse. "I've every form of combustion known to man. But this beats the hell out of me."

Winston took a tentative step forward. "I'm Winston Zeddemore, your honor. I've only been with the company for a couple of weeks. But I gotta tell you: these things are real. Since I joined these guys, I have seen shit that'll turn you white!"

I nodded in agreement. "Mr. Mayor, I studied under these men in college," I gestured to Peter, Ray, and Egon, "and believe me when I say that this is no joke."

"Look, you can believe Mr. Pecker-" Peter began.

"My name is Peck," the EPA man hissed.

Peter went on. "Or you can except the fact that this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions."

"What do you mean, 'biblical'?" said the mayor.

"He means Old Testament, Mr. Mayor," Ray explained. "Real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone raining down from the sky; rivers and seas boiling!"

"Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes," listed Egon.

"The dead rising from the grave!" exclaimed Winston.

"All manner of destruction!" I added in.

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!" Peter concluded.

"Enough! I get the point!" the mayor shouted. "But what if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, nothing happens! We'll go to jail; peacefully, quietly, we'll enjoy it…but if I'm right," Peter grinned, "and we can stop this…Lenny."

The mayor raised an eyebrow at the familiarity.

"You," said Peter, "will have saved the lives of _millions_ of registered voters."

A small smile grew slowly on the mayor's face. I felt a small tidbit of hope.

"I don't believe you're seriously considering listening to these nuts," hissed Peck.

The mayor gave him a look. "Get him out of here."

Peter turned to leer at Peck. "Bye."

Peck's eyes were like two daggers piercing Pete. "I'm gonna fix you, Venkman. I'll fix you if it's the last thing I ever do!" he yelled as the police dragged him out of the room.

I shook my head. "I almost feel sorry for the guy."

Peter turned to look at me as if I were deranged. I smirked. "Almost."

"Alright," the mayor said. "You guys have work to do. Now what do you need from me?"

The Ghostbusters and I grinned at each other.

* * *

><p>We pulled up in front of 55 Central Park West, suited up and ready to kick some Sumerian ass. "Man, the whole city must be here!" I remarked as I looked out the window.<p>

"Let's do this!" exclaimed Ray.

Peter, eager to greet his fans, hopped out first. "Hello, New York!" he called to the crowd. The crowd roared. "Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!"

He walked over to the crowd and starting shaking hands and kissing babies. "What are you, Venkman? A politician?" I jeered.

Peter ignored me and grabbed Ray's hand. He held it high in the air, as if Ray had just won a boxing title. "Dr. Ray Stantz, would you please?" announced Peter. "The heart of the Ghostbusters!"

_He really is_, I thought to myself. _He truly is the heart of the Ghostbusters._

At that moment, I realized we all had a special place in our little family of misfits. Ray was the heart. Egon, obviously, the brain. Peter was the mouth, and Winston was the normal one, the one who kept us all grounded.

And me? I was…the little sister. The Little Sister of the Ghostbusters. The one annoyed and teased the others, who came to them with her problems and secrets. The one who loved them and was loved by them. That was me.

"Jennifer? You coming?" called Ray.

I was shaken from my thoughts. "Uh, yeah. Be right there!"

Egon and Winston rolled out the packs. We all grabbed one. "Gotta run!" announced Peter. "Got a date with a ghost! Okay, whatever happens, let's be professionals!"

"Is that even possible for us?" I called back.

We stood in front of the building, preparing to face Gozer. All of a sudden, there was a rumble of thunder, and the wind picked up.

"Strange weather we been having, eh?" said Peter.

We all looked up. "My God," I breathed.

Purple-gray clouds were surrounding the roof of the building. Bolts of lightning struck the sides. The sky became as dark as night as a dark shadow covered the building.

"We might have to put a little overtime in on this one!" Ray shouted over the roar of the wind.

The ground began to shake. The street started ripping apart, as if the building was trying to dislodge itself from the earth. The pavement in front of us opened up and we fell into the crack.

Down below, we had all landed on top of each other, poor Peter on the bottom. Ray was on top, so naturally he climbed out first. "I'm okay!" he called. The crowd cheered.

"You're not gonna be when I come up there!" I yelled. "Get us out of here!"

Ray turned back and helped Egon, who was next on the pig pile. "Sorry, guys! I kinda forgot you were down there!"

"Nice to know how much we mean to you, Ray," I grunted as Egon pulled me out. "Are you okay?" Egon asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" I asked.

"Fine." We reached in and grabbed Winston's hands. "I was in no way prepared for that!" Winston exclaimed.

"It's all right!" Peter called to the crowd. "Don't worry! We can handle it! So they wanna play rough?"

We all put our hands in a pile and shouted, "Let's do it!"

The guys headed for the door and walked inside. I followed, but first I took a last look at the fading sun. I wondered for a second if I would ever see it again.


	10. Battle on the Roof

After one _long_ climb to the twenty second story, we finally reached the roof. "Why…couldn't…we…have taken…the elevator?" I panted.

"It's not a very safe idea; the building might collapse," Egon replied.

"Besides, the power's been shut off," added Ray.

I rolled my eyes. Scientists.

The sky was even more ominous at the top. Lightning cracked and thunder roared. I shuddered. I was scared shitless.

We stared at a beautiful woman in an orange dress and a nerdy looking man. They were standing on either side of a large concrete platform. The possessed tenants raised their arms toward the sky, and large bolts of lightning struck them.

"Dana! Dana!" yelled Peter. We watched in horror as the lightning seemed to transform the two into huge, disgusting canine-like beasts. The one had been Dana Barrett turned its head toward us and growled menacingly.

Peter turned to Ray. "Okay. So…she's a dog."

Jerk that he was, my heart bled a little for Pete. I knew that deep down, he had really loved Dana.

The dogs galloped over to the large fortress and stood at attention. The fortress, in a way, was beautiful and frightening all at the same time.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, emitting a light we all had to shield our eyes from. A figure stepped out. We stared at it in awe.

"It's a girl," said Ray, a little surprised.

The terrifying woman stepped over to one of the dogs and scratched on the head, almost lovingly. She had shortly clipped brown hair and red eyes. Real cover of Vogue material.

"It's Gozer," Egon said.

Winston looked over him. "I thought Gozer was a man."

"It's whatever it wants to be," Egon replied.

The feminist in me was a little offended at their surprise that a Sumerian god could take the form of a woman. But I had to admit, it wasn't exactly I had been expecting either.

"Well, whatever it is, it's gotta get by us!" shouted Peter. He paused. "Go get her, Ray!"

We all stared at him. "What?" Peter said innocently.

Ray sighed and stepped a little closer to the demonic woman. "Be careful," I whispered under my breath.

"Gozer the Gozerian!" shouted Ray. The she-demon turned to him.

"Good evening," Ray continued. "As a duly designated representative of the city, county, and state of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin, or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension!"

"That outta do it, thanks very much Ray!" Peter called.

Gozer spoke for the first time. "_Are you a god?_"

I gasped. That was it. The raspy voice I'd heard in my dreams.

This was my nightmare.

Ray looked back at Peter, waiting for confirmation to answer. Peter shrugged. Ray looked back at Gozer. "Uh…no?"

"_Then…die!_" Bolts of lightning flew out Gozer's fingertips.

The impact of the electricity nearly blew us off the building. We quickly picked ourselves up. "Ray. If someone asks you if you're a god, you say _yes_!" exclaimed Winston.

"Alright," said Peter. "This chick is toast!"

We pulled out our wands and prepared to blast the demon. "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown," declared Peter.

Gozer hissed at us in a sinister way.

"Throw it!" Peter yelled.

We let fly the streams. Gozer jumped out of the way and performed an acrobatic jump into the air, landing on the large platform. "Nimble little minx, isn't she?" Peter remarked.

"We'd better go full stream," said Egon.

We all nodded and turned up the power. "Let's blow this mother back to the hellhole she came from!" I declared.

"Aim for the flattop!" yelled Ray.

We fired at the vixen. She vanished like a puff of smoke. "Wasn't so hard," bragged Pete casually.

"We neutronized it!" exclaimed Ray. "Do you know what this means? A complete particle reversal!"

Winston grinned. "Alright, we had the tools; we had the talent!"

"It's Miller time!" Peter put his hand in the middle, and Ray and Winston followed suit.

I was about to start join the celebrating when I felt a cold feeling. And Gozer's voice came back to me: _It is coming. It will destroy._

"Uh, guys?" I called nervously. "I don't know…something's off."

Egon stared at me a second curiously. He whipped out his PKE meter and studied it. "Ray, this looks extraordinarily bad."

Suddenly the building began to shake under our feet. A chunk of the building broke off and fell toward us. "Look out!" yelled Egon.

I gasped and jumped out of the way just in the nick of time as the fragment fell and bounced over the side.

_Sub-creatures!_ Gozer's voice rasped, seeming to come out of nowhere. _Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohaar the Traveler has come! Choose and perish._

"What do you mean 'choose'?" yelled Ray. "We don't understand!"

_Choose. Choose the form of the Destructor._

"I get it!" shouted Peter. "I get it! Oh, very cute!"

The rest of us stared at him, questioningly.

"Whatever we think of," Peter explained. "If we think of J. Edgar Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover will appear and destroy us. So don't think of anything! Empty your heads! We've only got one shot at this!"

I closed my eyes and tried to think about nothing. Trust me; it's harder than it sounds.

_The choice is made_.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Peter yelled at the disembodied voice. "Nobody chose anything!" He looked at Egon. "Did you choose anything?"

"No!" Egon replied.

Peter turned to Winston. "Did you?"

"My mind was totally blank!"

"It wasn't me! I swear!" I added.

"Well I didn't choose anything!" exclaimed Peter. That's when we realized that Ray was unusually quiet.

We all turned to look at him. "I couldn't help it," he squeaked. "It just popped in there."

"What, Ray? What just popped in there?" said Peter in a deadly calm voice.

"I…I tried to think-"

"Look!" shouted Egon, pointing out into the distance.

"Oh, shit!" exclaimed Winston.

Something large, and I'm talking over a hundred feet, and white bobbed between the tops of the buildings. We all ran over to the edge, trying to get a better glimpse at Ray's creature.

"What did you do, Ray?" exclaimed Peter.

Ray gulped as he stared at his beast. "It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man."

"Oh my God," I whispered.

The confection of evil tromped down the boulevard, with chaos in his wake. The people below ran for their lives. It was sad, in a way. With his jaunty little sailor's and collar, and the big dumb grin on his face, he almost seemed lovable. If only he weren't so gigantic.

"Well, there's something you don't see everyday," Peter mused.

"I tried to think of the most harmless thing," said Ray. "Something I loved from my childhood…something that could never ever possibly destroy us: Mr. Stay-Puft."

"Nice thinking, Ray," said Peter sarcastically.

I used to roast Stay-Puft marshmallows by the fire at Camp Wauconda." He shook his head, scared to death at what he had brought about.

Peter looked over Egon. "Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon. What do you have left?"

Egon, like the rest of us, was petrified with fear. "Sorry, Venkman. I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

Peter sighed. "Alright. Winston, Jennifer? You guys got anything?"

"Hey, I only work here," was Winston's excuse.

Suddenly, the marshmallow looked our direction. The usual jolly face I'd seen countless times on the Stay-Puft Marshmallows bag had now been twisted into an evil leer.

"Oh no!" Winston gasped.

"Mother pus bucket!" declared Peter.

I gulped and thought fast. "Well…if he's a marshmallow…maybe we should roast him!"

"Aw, do we have to?" said Ray wistfully.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the United Eastern Orthodox Cathedral became Mr. Stay-Puft's personal stepstool.

Peter became enraged. "Nobody steps on a church in my town!"

"One, two, three, roast him!" yelled Ray.

We fired at the marshmallow man. He groaned in agony, but that didn't stop him from scaling the side of the building. Flames climbed up the walls, and we all ducked to steer clear of them.

"Funny us going out like this; killed by a hundred-foot marshmallow man," Ray said.

"We've been going about this all wrong," said Peter. "This Mr. Stay-Puft is okay. He's a sailor, he's in New York. We get this guy laid and we won't have any trouble!"

"Ugh!" I groaned. "If only we could close that damn door! Then I bet Gozer would disappear!"

Egon gasped. "That's it!"

I was confused. "Close the door? You mean it's that simple?"

"Well, not exactly," said Egon. "I have a radical idea. The door swings both ways. We could reverse the particle flow through the gate."

"How?" said Ray.

Egon thought for a moment. "We'll cross the streams."

"Uh, excuse me, Egon," Peter interceded. "I thought you said crossing the streams was bad."

"Cross the streams…" Ray and I whispered, considering the option. It had possibilities…but consequences as well.

"You're gonna endanger us," Pete continued. "You're gonna endanger our client-the nice lady who paid us in advance before she became a dog."

"Not necessarily," Egon said quickly. "There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive." He looked back and forth to the rest of us.

I gulped. "Well, I'm all for it."

Ray nodded. "Me, too."

Egon looked at Peter, hoping for the okay.

"I love this plan. I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's do it!" Peter exclaimed.

Winston shook his head, knowing it was the end. "This job is definitely not worth eleven-five a year!"

We dashed back over the temple, Ray narrowly missing the blazing hand of Mr. Stay-Puft, as he reached over the side.

We pulled out our sticks, ready for the attack. Peter turned to Ray. "See you on the other side, Ray."

Ray smiled. "It's been a pleasure working with you, Dr. Venkman."

The two best friends, with brave grins on their faces lit their wands. I gasped. They were saying their farewells for the last time.

There was something I had to do before we were blown to smithereens.

"Peter!" I yelled above the roar of the packs. "I'm sorry!"

He looked over at me. "Me too, kid."

I nodded and continued. "I love you all!" I shouted to the four of them. "You guys are like brothers to me!"

"We love you too, Jennifer."

It was at that moment that I really knew we weren't going to make it out of this. Because it wasn't Ray or Peter or Winston who had replied. It had been the standoffish one, the shy one, the one whom you couldn't make conversation with easily. Only in a moment grave peril would Egon Spengler ever admit to having human emotions.

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

I stared at all of them, all of my brothers. Each and every one of them was special to me.

Peter had been the one who led me to our team. I'd always be grateful for that. Yes, he could be a jackass at times, and yes, he tried to seduce me through science and lied to me about being psychic. But I could never hate him, because I knew deep down, he was a good man.

Then there was Ray. He was so optimistic and warm. From the very beginning, he'd accepted me. I would never stop marveling at his fervent belief in the good of humanity and general love for everyone. And while at times, he seemed rather unintelligent, he was one of the two most brilliant people I'd ever met.

The other, of course, was Egon. He was an intellectual man with an undying passion for science. He had a massive sweet tooth which I could totally respect. He was understanding and occasionally humorous. He may not have had the most developed social skills, but he was a good friend and confidante.

I regretted that I had never taken the time to connect with Winston, our rookie. He didn't have the same understanding of physics and parapsychology like the others, but he was still smart as the rest of them. He always managed to keep his cool under pressure and the Ghostbusters would incomplete with him.

Together, we formed a true family. The family I never really had back home.

I knew it wasn't likely that we would live through this. But I could go back and do it over, I wouldn't change a thing. I would die a thousand times alongside these men.

I blinked back a tear. I then realized why my eyes had always been stinging in my nightmares: because I was crying.

"Turn 'em on!" cried Ray. I gulped and hit the switch. I brought the end of my wand to touch the others. The five combined streams formed one super-beam that exploded the temple. I felt a tug on my arm as I was yanked out of the way.

Then, everything went silent.


	11. Epilogue

I was back in the dark universe of my dreams. But the usual roaring wind was absent. It was absolutely silent.

_Is this death?_ I wondered. _Nothing? A dark abyss?_

I was so not spending eternity without form of entertainment.

Suddenly, the solitude was interrupted by a distant, echoed moaning-no, I was wrong. It was a voice. Not the rasping voice of Gozer. That mother was gone for good; I'd made sure of that. No, this wail was a warm deep voice, friendly and comforting. I wanted to run toward it, if only I had feet.

The cry was slowing growing louder, and I could make out that it was someone calling for someone else. _Venkman? Spengler! Jennifer!_

Another voice, equally inviting, joined the first. _Jennifer, wake up…Jennifer…_

* * *

><p>My eyes fluttered open.<p>

A figure spattered in white goo knelt beside, gently shaking my arm. "Jennifer? Wake up! Are you okay?"

Had it not been able for the protruding nose, with a chunk of white goop clinging to the end for dear life, I would not have been able to recognize him. "Egon?"

The figure exhaled with relief. "You're alright."

"I sure hope so," I replied. Egon chuckled and helped me to my feet.

"Thanks," I said. Then I looked down at myself and groaned. I, like Egon, was covered head-to-toe in marshmallow. "Yuck!"

"Spengler! Jenny!" I heard Ray call. I turned to see two more white snowmen walking toward us; Ray and Winston, I presumed. "Oh, are you okay?"

"I feel like the floor of a taxi cab," groaned Egon. I giggled. Then I noticed Peter was missing. "Venky! Where are you?" I called.

Peter emerged from the stairwell. He had somehow managed to survive the blast, receiving only a fleck of gook on the back of his head. How unfair.

"Oh, thank God!" Ray sighed with relief. We exchanged "Are you okays?" and "I'm alrights."

I laughed excitedly. "We did it! We saved the city!" I turned to Egon and hugged him enthusiastically.

Egon froze, not to sure what to do. I laughed. "Egon, you're such a dork."

He relaxed and hugged me back.

I watched Peter stare miserably at the statue that had been his girlfriend. My heart bled for him. He really had loved her.

Ray sniffed the air. "Ugh, it smells like barbecued dog hair."

I elbowed Ray in the ribs. "Ow! What was that-" Then Ray noticed Pete. "Oh. Venkman. Oh, Venkman, I'm sorry. I just-I just forgot."

Peter gave him a melancholy gaze. Suddenly behind him, a chunk of the statue broke. I gasped.

A human hand poked itself out of the hole and we heard a moan from inside the dog. "She's alive!" I shouted.

The rest of us hurried over to break the statue apart. Suddenly, a little cry came from the other statue. "Somebody turn on the lights!"

"Go check on that little guy!" said Pete.

We pulled the nerdy man out of the dog remains. He looked around, bewildered. "Boy, the superintendent's gonna be pissed."

"Are you alright, sir?" asked Egon.

The nerd stared at as if he'd just noticed us for the first time. "Who are you guys?"

"We're the Ghostbusters," said Ray proudly.

The nerd looked at of us, dripping marshmallow. "Who does your taxes?" I tried not to laugh.

Peter helped Dana down the stairs while Ray and Egon started excitedly questioning the nerdy man. I watched Winston look around and raise his arms to the sky. "I LOVE THIS TOWN!" he shouted.

I grinned. "Me too, Winston. Me too."

* * *

><p>Down below, Peter passionately kissed Dana, making our fans cheer even louder. I rolled my eyes. "He always has to have the spotlight." Ray, Egon, and Winston cracked up.<p>

I heard someone call "Egon!" I looked up to see that it was Janine, fighting her way through the mass. I grinned and elbowed Egon. "Yo, brainiac. Your fair lady approacheth."

Janine hurried over to us and hugged Egon tightly. "Oh, Egon!"

I snickered. Poor Egon was blushing. He obviously did not like Janine. But he graciously returned the hug anyway. I shook my head.

Suddenly, I was distracted away from the "happy" couple by a yell of, "Jennifer!"

I turned toward the voice and gasped delightedly. "Alex!"

Alex pushed a cop out of the way. "Jennifer!" He put his strong hands on my shoulders. "I saw what happened! Are you alright?"

"Well," I mused. "A little sticky, but I'll live!"

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. Then he looked me straight in the eye. "I guess you weren't kidding about this whole parapsychology thing, huh?"

I chuckled. "Nope. Go on, say it!"

He looked sheepish. "I…I was wrong. I'm sorry."

I smiled. "You're forgiven." Then I hugged him again.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I let Alex go and turned to the person-Ray. "Hey Jennifer, Egon needs to load up your pack."

I nodded. "Okay. Bye, Alex!"

Alex watched me dash off. Ray put a hand on his shoulder. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

"That goes double for me," said Peter, who had snuck up on the other side of poor Alex.

Alex gulped. "Yes sir."

Ray and Peter grinned. "Just kidding," laughed Ray. Then his face turned stern again. "But seriously." Then he and Peter headed over to the car, leaving Alex to scratch his head.

The crowd went wild as we were preparing to drive away. "Who you gonna call?" I yelled.

"GHOSTBUSTERS!" They all screamed back. I laughed and climbed into Ecto-1. We were heroes.

* * *

><p>I stared at the screen nervously. "Well, Egon? Can you tell?"<p>

We were all gathered at the firehouse. It was a wreck thanks to the explosion. But I had needed Egon to check my psychic abilities again. Thankfully, Egon's brain scanner had came out unscathed.

Egon looked at the screen too. The rainbow silhouette looked the same as before when Egon had checked out my brain, but I really couldn't tell. "Hmm…yes, just as I thought: I was wrong before. There's definite psychic ability there."

I gasped. "The dreams! That explains them!"

"I'm sorry I was wrong before," Egon said.

I shook my head. "If there's anyone who should be apologizing here, it should be me to Peter." I turned to him. "I'm sorry."

Peter shrugged. "I'm a rock, kid. Nothing hurts me."

Suddenly, Janine ran in, looking hysterical. "Guys! Guys! You'll never believe what just came in the mail!"

"Let me guess," said Peter. "It's time for your yearly mammogram!"

Janine glared at him briefly. Then she thrust an envelope into Egon's hands. "No! It's an injunction! We're being sued!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there we go! The first installment, signed sealed and delivered! Stay tuned for Part 2: Back in the Saddle! I hope you enjoyed. And if you didn't read it, well SHAME ON YOU! Although, if you didn't read it, how would you be reading this?...Whatever! Smell ya later! -Catie<strong>


End file.
